


Nuances

by write_your_way_out



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 08:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11802801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/write_your_way_out/pseuds/write_your_way_out
Summary: Annie’s time ran out. She can’t make things right. She can’t take any of it back, and now her comrades will all find out the truth.





	Nuances

**Author's Note:**

> A song fic (ish) based off of I Know What you Did Last Summer, sticking to the theme of betrayal and secret keeping.

He knew.

He knew.

_He knew._

Annie shoved her hand into her mouth. It did little to stifle the abrupt sob that bubbled in her mouth, but the group ahead of her didn’t notice. Eyes closed, the world dissolved into a flash of images. 

The look of pure terror on Bertholdt’s face. The sharp breath he drew before slicing a knife down his palm. Blasts of heat and fire, lightning, and sparks that flushed her face. How her heart skipped a beat as the Colossal Titan appeared where her friend once stood. 

When he pulled his foot back, a million thoughts rushed through her mind. They were people. They were just humans, like them. Behind the walls, thousands of them lived normal, stagnant lives. None of them remembered, much less took part in, the violent acts against Marley. 

They didn’t deserve this.

A jet of wind tore into her skin as Bertholdt’s foot slammed into the wall, tearing the word on the tip of her tongue out of her throat, “Wait!”

Too late.

It was too late.

Five years too late. 

In the years Annie spent in the training corps, Eren Jaeger was the only constant in a sea of uncertainty. No matter how many close calls there were, no matter how many regrets and missed chances to make things right flew by her, he stayed the same. All fire and passion, a drive that was truly terrifying. 

He’d practically begged her to teach him to fight. 

To this day, Annie wasn’t sure why she agreed. To shut him up? To assess his threat? No. That wasn’t it. 

It was his eyes that convinced her to teach him. Normally cold and hard, looking at the world through a lens that passed pessimistic and went straight to nihilism, when he looked at her, Annie saw a whole new version of him. The glassy glaze over his irises that proved he was always a wrong word away from breaking down into tears. The tiniest of wrinkles at the edges, he’d seen something bad enough to scar him for life.

She knew all the subtle nuances of someone who’d been through Hell. 

She saw it every time she looked in a mirror.

It was that bond that tied them together. At first, it was nothing more than a simple training session. One session turned into two, three, four. Annie found she looked forward to sparing, even long after Eren had learned her moves.

Sometimes he would mention how the titans destroyed his life. How he vowed revenge. He would vanquish them at any cost.

How many times had Annie bit down the urge to tell him it was impossible?

If - When - he found out who she was, he would never speak to her again. Never see her alive again. Because when her secret came out, they would have to fight. That was how this all worked, wasn’t it? She was his enemy in disguise. Eren was her mission. On both sides, the other was too dangerous to let go even…..Even if they were friends.

She didn’t want him to find out like this. 

She didn’t want him to find out at all.

But when he’d turned back to look at her, she read the nuances of his eyes. 

He knew. 

They all knew.

Her time ran out. How many minutes left until they neared their trap? Too many. Annie wished they would never reach their destination, the final showdown location. She never wanted to ruin what they had, but it was unavoidable now.

Maybe when they fought, she could pretend it was just another sparring match.


End file.
